But all the leaders were and had to be literate. Basic literacy was adequate to be the leader of a platoon, but it was important to be able to read written dispatches. The higher we go up the ranks the more important a good education became. That is why the leaders came from families that could afford to send them to school - for the most part. That could include a prosperous farmer, but, unless they had moved further onto the frontier after growing up in a more settled area and took their education with them, the frontiersmen were less likely to be 'well educated'. That said, they may will have valuable skills and knowledge that cannot be gained in school. And there were a number of self educated who had read widely in available books, but they had to be able to get the books somehow.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Power disparity in the American colonies grew slowly, because land was cheap and labour dearly expensive. Hence the outright slavery and sensitivity to tea or stamp taxes. So the colonial societies were rather egalitarian, ignoring slavery. The founding religious and social projects were hard to manage, hardly anything went according to intentions.